Prophecy of Twelve
by CrystalAkuna
Summary: 12 teenagers..." "All but one from America, I believe." "Albus...what are we to do with 12 teenagers?" "Why...show them their roots, of course."
1. The Disappearing Act

**Crystal****: Ok everyone, I've decided to re-write Prophecy of Eight. Though, as you can see, it's Prophecy of Twelve now…anyways, I'll only be talking to you at the point of now until I need to again, so feel free to contact me through any of my e-mail addresses. IM me…whatever. Just, when you IM me…tell me you're from and you want to know about so and so story. People just randomly IM me saying 'hey, what's up?' and I get all confused cause I've NEVER talked to that person before.**

**Crystal: Anyways, in this story, I own the plot line. If you see anyone who's copying it who doesn't have credit, tell me. I'd like to know. I HATE being copied. I really, really do. I also own the character Mickey (me) and the character David belong to me…every other character belongs to my friends or J.K. Rowling.**

**)(**

"What are we gonna do today?" I asked, propelling my body back and forth on the swing. Hey, I was 17, I could do what I wanted. I'm no baby for liking swings…OH! By the way, my name's Mickey. Mickey Weber. And YES! I'm a girl.

"Mall?" Suggested my best friend, Lucky. Well, that wasn't her real name, but she loved to be called that.

"We went to the mall FOUR times already. This WEEK!" Hollered my other best friend, Maggie, annoyed. Lucky stuck her tongue out at her from her seat at the bottom of the slide, and Maggie just rolled her eyes, falling back on the grass which she sat upon.

"The beach?" I suggested, trying to ignore their fighting. I slowed down my swinging.

"I don't like the ocean that much, remember?" Lucky threw at me, and I mumbled a meek sorry.

"Well," I began, trying to stop the fight to come. I saw Maggie begin to open her mouth. "We need to figure out something. We're only two weeks into summer," I sighed, digging my converse into the woodchips beneath me, which substituted for sand. My slowed swinging ceased. "How can we be out of things to do?"

Just at that moment, I can't exactly explain what happened. There was this incredible twisting feeling inside me…like…the cramps you get after running…oooooooor…during your period. Only three fold. Anyways, before I knew it…POP! The park was gone! And so were Lucky and Maggie! And now…well…I was in the MOST BEAUTIFUL ROOM!...which looked vaguely familiar…

"Good evening, Miss Weber," said a very kind, old voice. I turned, slowly. Only my TEACHERS called me Miss Weber.

…but, ok, this was DEFINATLY different. Very different. I mean, my voice caught in my throat when I saw who else was standing in the room with me. I…don't recall what happened after that. I think I passed out…or something…

)(

When I woke up later, though, there were more people in the room…INCLUDING LUCKY AND MAGGIE! And my other best friends (I have A LOT of best friends) Ren, Sarah, AND Ellie! There were boys, too…and truth be told, I had never seen them before. Ever. Hmmmm…that one has a cute smile…ACK! Sorry.

"Ah, you're awake, Miss Weber," said the same voice. Dumbledore's voice. My mouth opened a few times, before I almost fainted again. Thank god someone caught me…it was the boy with the cute smile!

"We don't need you doing that again," he smiled, and I looked up at him. I smiled. Like an idiot. Like the IDIOT THAT I AM!

"Yea, we want to hear why we're here, and we need you to be awake to do that," said another guy in the room. I sent a glance at him, before standing up and fixing my hair. My new, beautiful hair. I just got it dyed that last year, and it looked SO awesome. My parents of course hated me because they told me not to dye it black, but I wanted it so much. So, there we go. Anyways…I went and sat down between Lucky and Sarah, and smiled at both of them, and then turned to look at Dumbledore. The boy with the cute smile sat next to the boy that had talked to me before.

"Ok, well, first I think it would be best for you to get to know each other first, since you will be spending QUITE a lot of time together," Dumbledore said, and then he looked at all us girls sitting on the couch. There was Maggie on the end, then Lucky, then me, then Sarah (with Ren sitting on her lap) and then Ellie, with one arm up on top of the back of the couch.

"Ladies first" he said, smiling at us, and Maggie stood. We'd go in order, I suppose.

"My names Maggie. I'm 17. Last I knew I was lying in the grass in the park by Mickey's house, and now I'm here," she said, and then sat down. Lucky bolted up.

"My names…well, it's not important, but you can call me Lucky. I'm 17, but I'll be 18 in September. I like reading, my favorite color is blue, my favorite flow—" Maggie and I pulled her down at the point, and she glared at us. "Hey," she said, but Maggie and I just shook my head as I stood.

"I'm Mickey and I'm 17, just like most of my friends. I suppose I was the first one here, and I have no idea why I'm here, and I'd really like to know so if you guys could tell us your name and age only…that'd be great," I laughed nervously, and then sat down awkwardly…and embarrassed. The guy with the cute smile whispered to the rude guy, and I looked down, grabbing the cloth of my jeans, blushing slightly.

"I'm Sarah," Sarah finally said, having got Ren off her, and now standing. "I just turned 17 a few days ago, and boy am I glad to be 17. I was walking down the street with Ren when I got here and saw Mickey passed out on the floor…" Sarah blinked, and then sat down as Ren stood.

"Hiiiiiiiiiiii, I'm Ren! I'm still 16…but I'll be 17 in five days. FIVE DAYS! I was walking with Sarah, like she said, and I helped carry Mickey to the bed. Yay," Ren said, as she sat back down on Sarah, who made an 'oomph' like sound.

"Hello. I'm Ellie, and I turned 17 last month. I was actually asleep when I got transferred here, and as I can tell, I'm still IN England and it is pretty late. I'm originally from New Zealand," she said, and then she sat again.

"Alright then, you boys know the girls. It's time they had the same pleasure," Dumbledore said, and cute smile boy stood, since he was first.

"My name's David, but you all can call me Frosty. People call me that because my last name is Frost, and NO, in no way am I related to the poet. I just turned 18, and I'll be 19 next June," he said, winking at all of us and then sitting. David…ok, I knew his name. The rude guy stood now.

"Chris. Just Chris. I'm 17," he said, simply, and then sat again. The guy next to 'just Chris' stood.

"Nathan…um, I guess it's alright if some of you call me Nate…I'll be 18 soon, but right now, I'm 17," he said, putting his hands in his pockets and then sitting again. The guy next to him stood.

"Richard Edward Daniels, better known as Red. Get it? R.E.D? Nevermind, anyways, I'm going to be turning 18 this year," 'R.E.D' said, sitting down again, curling one of his lips in. The next stood. Were we as boring as they were doing this?

"Er…Tom Garding. I'll be 18 this year, as well…uhm, yea, that's it," Tom said, nodding and looking at the ceiling, before sitting down, and then the last guy stood. FINALLY!

"Daniel, and my last name isn't important. Not at all. I turned 18 earlier this year," Daniel said, nodding and then continuing to stand for a while. Oh my god, he'd better sit down. Any minute now, he would SIT DOWN. Come on, come on, YOU COULD DO IT!

"SIT DOWN!" All us girls yelled at the same down, and he made an 'eep' sound, before compelling.

"Sorry…" I muttered, feeling bad and looking down.

"Uhm…s'ok," he said, still a bit shaken up, and then Dumbledore cleared his throat. We all looked up.

"Anyways, lets get started, shall we?" He said, and we all nodded. "I'm sure you all know you're at Hogwarts, seeing me and as seeing that you're in the Room of Requirement," he said, and a look of understanding dawned on all of our faces. THAT'S where we were. "Anyways, you are all at appropriate power levels and age to begin a 7th year at Hogwarts," he said, and I raised my hand. He looked at me oddly…as did all the boys, not knowing how I usually acted. I blushed, bringing my hand down.

"Um, I was wondering…we haven't gone to school here before…how are we just supposed to go to 7th year? Won't other students get suspicious? And how are we supposed to know 6 years of magic right off the bat?" I asked, and Dumbledore nodded in consideration.

"That is why you're here in early July. For the next two months, you will be learning the ways of magic. Everything you missed out on the past 6 years," Dumbledore said. "As for the students, they will believe that you are exchange students from America who have been home schooled for all their years, and have decided to join a public school for the difference," Dumbledore said, and everyone nodded. David raised his hand, and he smiled at me. I smiled back. He was trying to make me look like less of an idiot. I laughed a bit to myself, and then glanced at Lucky, who was smiling at me. "Yes, David," Dumbledore said.

"I was wondering why at this moment, just now we were being accepted into Hogwarts? And why can't we just be from the Salem Witch Academy?" He asked, and everyone looked at Dumbledore.

"Well," Dumbledore began, "what happened is we didn't know you had magical powers. Nor did the headmaster at Salem. We over-passed your auras at the time, which were hidden. Because we were looking for witch and wizard auras, not sorcerers and sorceress," Dumbledore said, and I stood.

"NO WAY!" I cried, and everyone looked at me. Dumbledore blinked.

"Yes, way, Miss Weber," Dumbledore said, and I sat down, embarrassed again. "Anyways, yes, you all are sorcerers and sorceresses. You all have secret powers, all of you, but I have no idea what they are yet. So, during your stay, we hope to discover them," Dumbledore said, and we all nodded. We all understood now.

"Now, you will be sorted on the first day of school, with all of the 1st years. So, as of now, you'll have to wait in suspense for your house. You're studies begin in a week, and tomorrow you'll go to Diagon Alley. I suggest that for the rest of the week…you figure out exactly what to do. As long as you stay out of the forbidden forest…you'll do fine," he smiled, and we all nodded. He did a swish of his wand, and suddenly the room became larger. There were six beds, a large screen, and then six more beds. There were trunks at the end of each bed.

"Your beds for now. Boys on one side, and the girls on the other. You'll know your beds by the trunks on the end which are filled with some of your most favorite things of home. We've been watching you over the year, so they should work out. Now, it's 1AM, so I urge you to go to sleep. There is a bathroom down the hall, and I'll charm the room so that it stays. Good night, my future students," Dumbledore said, doing a wispy bow in his emerald green robes, and then leaving.

We all sat there awkwardly for a moment, before I stood, and then walked over to one side of the screen. Yea, you couldn't even see a shadow. That was good. I walked to the other side. Nope, no shadow. I looked at all of the trunks on the side I was on. No…none with my initials. I walked to the other side, and smiled. Right near the screen, my bed, with my trunk having MW on it. I kneeled down, and opened my trunk, and then heard some noises as everyone else stood and began exploring their own sides of the room, their own beds, and their own trunks.

I took out my Nightmare Before Christmas pajamas, laughing, but then put them back.

"Sleeping in my clothes tonight…" I muttered, taking off my converse and socks and setting them by the side of my bed.

"Why? Too embarrassed to change with guys in the same room?" Ren asked, taunting like.

"HELL YEA!" We all yelled, and Ren cracked up laughing. I slipped under the covers of the bed, thanking god for wearing a tank top today. Under the covers I slipped off my jeans, and then dropped them by the side of the bed. I looked at the ceiling for awhile as my friends got in bed as well, and talked.

"Night!" I called over their chattering, and they all quieted, and Lucky turned off the light by her. The light on our side went off, but the boy's lights remained. I could see shadows now…

"Night!" Random calls came from the other girls, and I nodded to myself as if acknowledging them, my eyes beginning to drift closed. I continued to watch the screen…I think David had the spot by the screen too…it looked like his hair…

"OYASUMINASAI!" Ren called.

"SHUT UP REN!" Ellie called, and we all laughed, and my eyes finally closed. I drifted off to sleep…wondering what my family and other friends would think of my disappearing act…

)(

**Crystal****: Yes, I know, it's short. But I don't have much to work with yet. I'm hoping to by the next chapter, though **

**Crystal: So if you'd keep off my back and not flame me, I'd really appreciate it. Also…none of the guys in this story actually exist. They were all made up XD since guys aren't as perfect as that. Also, the name David Frost…I didn't steal that from the poet, ok? I actually know someone with that name, and I thought it'd be a cool name to have, since Frosty could be his nickname XD**

**Crystal****: Anyways, review…and don't flame. I don't like flames, and if you do send one, I won't send it. You're supposed to be considerate, and if you don't like the story…just…STOP READING IT! Thank you for your time.**


	2. The Magical Office Depot

**Crystal****: I said that would be the only authors note, huh? My bad…anyways, w00t! I got 2 reviews in the first, like, 8 hours this story was out! I'm so happy! Ok, so I got a question from a reader and that's basically what this note is for (you'll only see notes from me in that case, I already gave you the disclaimer). The 12 teenagers are acquainted with magic, as you said, because I never said the Harry Potter books didn't exist. In this case, they do exist, and all of the teenagers who are now there…have read them. They know who everyone is, they know where they are, etc. etc.**

**Crystal: All of the female characters are based off my closest circle of friends…and we're all only 13…I based it off how we actually act or would like to act, and I guess it just fit in with that curve of teenage living. Note: There are couplings in this story…so be sure to see lots of fluff. Mostly between me and the guy I want to end up with…cause…it's my story!**

)(

I woke up early. I was stupid. It was summer, and I woke up early. And guess what I had to do then? That's right! Go to the bathroom. And now…I'm lost, too embarrassed to ask anyone for help. Not only because of the reason to WHY I was lost, but also because I wasn't wearing pants. Remember how I took them off to sleep? Yea…

I thought I'd be like 'I'll just go down the hall, go to the bathroom, and go back.' Thing is…I ran into a stairway before hand, and it decided to move…which leads me to my current predicament of just sitting on them till they move to a floor that's familiar.

Even if I HAD the courage to ask someone the way back, there was NO ONE to ASK! It was probably a little past, oh, 5am now…oh thank god…the stairs moved again, and this floor ACTUALLY looks familiar!

I stood, walking onto the floor and beginning to head down the hall, only going straight. That is…still a door opened in front of me and I stumbled into a suit of armor…I'll never be graceful.

The person turned and began walking towards me, and I sat there. Ok, I needed an idea. Ok, lets see, we had a portrait…that was asleep, a suit of armor that rebuilt itself when you knocked it over, a tapestry, another pictu-HEY! A tapestry!

I scrambled to my feet and squeezed behind it. Well, the pantless part of me. It was an incredibly thin tapestry, and that was the only part that fit. Maybe they'd walk past me…though when I saw the lantern, I thought differently, I squeezed my eyes shut, and froze when the footsteps stopped in front of me.

"Michelle?" Asked a voice.

"It's Mickey," I muttered, automatically, but then I opened my eyes. Oh great…it was David. Just my luck. I guess he was better then Chris, though… "Hey…Frosty," I muttered, rather then being corrected. I hated that. He smiled that…cute, side smile I loved so much.

"What are you doing out here?" He asked, raising his eyebrow. His awesomely, PIERCED eyebrow! I laughed nervously.

"Oh nothing, just…hanging out here…behind this…tapestry…" I muttered, and he gave me a look. "Oh fine! I got lost and I'm not wearing pants, don't even ASK why, and that's why I'm behind this tapestry," I muttered…in that fast way I talked. He nodded. He'd understood. Great…

"I'll take you back," he said, almost too calmly.

"Um…HELLO?!? I'M NOT WEARING PANTS…and…and…YOU'RE A GUY!" I said, but he just made a quieting motion with his hands.

"I know what sex I am, thank you, not quiet down before you wake the whole castle or before I'm forced to quiet you down," he laughed, winking, and I blushed. How would he…? I shook my head, and mumbled a meek 'sorry'.

"S'ok," he answered, slipping his arms inside the sleeves of his shirt…yea…then he TOOK IT OFF!

"Wh-wh-WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?!" I hollered as quietly as possible, and he laughed, handing me the shirt. I took it, and kept my eyes on the shirt. Not him. The shirt.

"You can wear that, it should be long enough to cover anything you need covered," he smiled, and I smiled back…sorta. I slipped the shirt on, and saw that it fit me like a dress. A pretty short one, but a dress nonetheless. I nodded, and then walked out from behind the tapestry. "You can keep it," he spoke up suddenly, and I looked at him. "It looks better on you then it ever did, or ever will, on me," he smiled, and I blushed, beginning to follow him as he began walking back down the hall. He passed the door he'd come out of…which must've been the bathroom. For some reason…I didn't have to go anymore. No, I did not WET myself! Sicko…

He walked in through a door, holding it open for me, and I smiled a 'thank you' after I walked in. He closed the door behind my entrance, and then swept into a bow. When he stood, he spoke.

"Goodnight…Mickey, he said with a final smile, walking to his side.

"Night…" I answered with a small, wistful smile as I headed back to my own side…crawling into bed. He was so…charming. I smiled again, and fell asleep within minutes.

)(

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Lucky and I hollered as we bolted deeper into the caverns of Gringotts, the next day. I was wearing David's shirt, still, with caprice now. I don't know why I didn't call him Frosty…like he probably would have liked. Well, I liked David better…  
Eh…I'll probably never be able to wear those pants again…ever…oh no, another drop…

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHhhhhhhhhhhhhHHHHHHHHHHHHHHhhhhhhhhhhHHHHHHHHHH!!!" Lucky and I screamed again, and then…the cart just had to take an immediate stop…sending me, Lucky, and Sarah forward…into David, Richard, and Chris. We all mumbled 'sorry'…at the same time.

"Personal Jinx!" Sarah called, as Chris helped her out of the cat. (She was on the edge, I was on the other. Lucky got, well, lucky, and got to sit in the middle. Everyone else was in a cart not too far behind us.)  
"On who-ohhhahhh!" I yelped as I was hurled forward again as the other cart hit us from behind. David laughed, turning around and helping me sit up again.

"We really need to stop meeting like this," he laughed. I Smiled nervously.

"Yea…" I laughed nervously, mimicking my previous smile. "Anyways…jinx on who?" I asked.

"Um…" Sarah muttered, and then looked at the other cart. "Ren! Personal jinx on Ren!" Sarah called. Ren gave Sarah a look.

"I wasn't even HERE!" Ren called back, and Sarah huffed.

"S-s-so! Now I get to hit you! You talked!" Sarah said, and began chasing Ren who had just gotten out of her cart. I laughed, standing and climbing out of the cart, as well. And I was the laaaaaaast one out, too.

"AHEM!" Called the goblin who was leading us, and everyone froze. He shook his head, muttering to himself as he walked toward the large door. "Teenagers…American teenagers," I heard him say, and I rolled my eyes. "Keys, please," he called back to us, and all of us handed him a key. All of them were on chains, and each key was different.

**…Flashback…**

_"Oh! Before I forget…" Dumbledore said, as they stood around an inner tube in their 'room'. The inner tube would serve as a portkay. Dumbledore held out his arm, and 12 chains dangled from it…each with a different color key._

_"Your keys for Gringotts, your first stop…it would be extremely bad for you to go without these," he said, handing them out to each person. I held mine in my hand, turning it over and rubbing my thumb over the odd engraving on the back._

_"Sir, why are they on chains?" Daniel asked. Dumbledore smiled in an almost mysterious way, but it was more gentle, more…twisted._

_"These keys, as you can see, are very tiny. But…they are more important then just opening the doors to the money that is left for you. Much more important. Now hurry along."_

**…End…**

****

I wonder, still, what he meant about them being more important…anyways, this door was weird…the one we were at. A lot different then any of the doors we'd passed coming down here. And believe me, we had passed A LOT!

The goblin (I think his name was Egmont) put six keys in the six key holes that were on the door; mine, Sarah's, Lucky's, David's, Chris's, and Red's. (Pale red, pale blue, silver, ice blue, forest green, and dark red keys.) That door slid open in diagonal triangles, and another door was appeared. It, too, had 6 key holes. He put in the remaining keys, holding the first ones in his other hand. Maggie's, Ren's, Ellie's, Tom's, Nathan's, and Daniel's. (Cerulean blue, pink, sea foam green, neon yellow, black, and ocean blue keys.)  
There was a click, and this door split like a tic-tac-toe board…except, with an extra horizontal line. Each of these had their own key hole, as well. Great…more key holes…

Egmont returned our keys on their chains to each one of us, and we all walked up to a door. Each one…had a symbol, and all of the symbols were different. Hey! There were symbols on our keys too! Come to think of it…the door in front of where Richard was standing…it…looked like the one on my key. Maybe…  
I quickly looked at the marked side of my key. Well…it certainly didn't match the door I was at. I quickly walked over to Red's door, and before he said anything, I shoved my key in the doors keyhole.

"What are you doing?" He asked, narrowing his eyes at me, and I shrunk back against the door. Ok…next time…I'd think BEFORE I acted.

"Leave her alone, Red, I'm sure she has an explanation…" David said, looking at me. I nodded, still against the wall of doors. Red let out a 'fine', and stepped back. With that, I gave a sigh of relief. Jeez, I really owed David…a lot…

"On your keys…did you guys notice there are symbols?" She asked, looking at them. A few people nodded. "Turn them over…you'll see…to the side that usually doesn't show. If you look at yours…and then at the door (which have symbols, too, if you hadn't noticed)…your key's symbol **_should_** match one of the symbols on the door…" I said, and everybody looked at their own keys before going off to search for a door.

I turned back to the one which my key was in, and turned the key till it stopped turning. I heard a click sound inside the door, and heard many other clicks from other doors. When the last click had sounded from someone's door, we all turned to look at one another. Why wasn't it working?  
Then, all at once, the doors popped open, creating a large cloud of multi-colored dust. When it cleared before us, we all saw one large vault. Divided into 12.

)(

"Alright, we have books, robes, ingredients for potions, and classroom necessities," Daniel said, reading off a list as we all walked down Diagon Alley, carrying a large shopping bag each. It was quite a sight, especially with all of us in our American 'muggle' clothing. Well, except for Ellie. It did attract A LOT of stares. Then again, none of these people were students. Most of them looked to have graduated Hogwarts decades ago.

"So…that leaves wands," Nathan said.

"And pets!" Maggie added.

"Yea, you can't forget pets," Tom nodded. I smiled. This guy seemed to like animals just as much as Maggie.

"Ok, well, we'll do wands first, since those are mandatory," Daniel said, and everyone nodded. We reached Ollivanders shop in no time…thing was…the shop was WAY too small to hold all of us.

"Well, we'll go in groups of 6 again," he said, and everyone nodded. Again. What was with all this unison nodding, anyways?  
"Oh! I call Ren's group!" I called, grabbing her arm and clinging to it.

"Me too!" Sarah and Maggie called at the same time. They gave each other looks, and then stayed quiet for a few moments. "Me too!" They called again, and continued shouting it at each other.  
"Oh! I want to play!" David laughed, and mocked ran for me. I froze as his arms lopped about my waist. "I call Mickey's group!" He laughed, and he clinged to my waist in the same fashion I did to Ren's arm. I blushed, and not normal blush…RED ZONE blush! I hid my face in Ren's shirt as the talking around me continued. It quieted down after a while, meaning one of the groups had went inside. David finally let go of my waist, and I let go of Ren, standing with my face still tinted pink.

"You ok? " David asked, looking at me. He was reclined against the building, hands laced behind his head, calm as ever. He was ALWAYS calm in these situations.

"Oh yea. Fine. Couldn't be better…" I muttered, and glanced to the side where Ren and Sarah were laughing at me. "Shut up…" I glared…or tried to. They just laughed more. Meh…

"Uh…you guys…" Ellie's voice broke through the laughter. Everyone looked at her, me included. "You…you need to get in here…_now_," Ellie said, stressing the word now, and then disappearing into the shop again. We all looked at each other, before hurrying into the small shop. And let me tell you, it was _crammed_. Nathan even had to stand in the doorway. (He'd been the last one in…since he'd been…chasing pigeons outside…)  
Ollivander stood behind the counter, where I saw what Ellie had been so eager about. Sitting on the counter were twelve wand boxes, all open. They were all glowing different colors, the colors of our keys. 'ARGH!' I thought, standing on my tiptoes. 'I can't see a thing!'  
I let out a cry of surprise as I felt myself lifted into the air, and then realized David had lifted me up on his shoulders. So…I could see over everyone. Had he been watching me try and look over everyone? Had he been…watching me, period?  
"My, he sure is flirty…" I muttered, trying to find a place to grip my hands. I hated heights…

"Here," he said, holding his hands up, though his arms still held my calves so I wouldn't feel unsafe in that way. "And yes, I am very flirty," he grinned, and I blushed. I hadn't meant to say that out loud…then again…why was he flirty with me?  
Anyways, I could the wands clearly now. They were all different in length, and had a symbol on them. The symbols that were on our keys…and the vault doors. Those were the part of the wand giving off the glow. What was so special about these symbols?...Ollivander walked to one side of the line, picking up the first wand. Its glow was ice blue.

"David Frost," Ollivander said, and I feel back a bit as he walked through the crowd. I gripped his hands tighter…and he gripped back. "I'm afraid you'll have to set Ms. Weber down, Mr. Frost," he chuckled, and I blushed. David just laughed along as he let me down. I stood beside him, now squished between him, Maggie, Daniel, and the counter.

Ollivander held out the handle to David, and he reached for it, but Ollivander pulled it away. David gave him a look, while raising his eyebrow. Did I mention it was PIERCED AND TOTALLY AWESOME?!?!?...ok, sorry, shutting up now…

"Before we start, it is clear that all these wands are made of ebony. But, they are not the same. This one…16 ½ inches, ice phoenix feather," Ollivander said, and then held the wand out for David. I watched intently, and wondered…the wand glowed ice blue, the core was a feather of an ice phoenix, and his nickname was Frosty. Yea, I know his last name is Frost, but…it was uncanny…what was with the ice and snow?

I shook my head a bit, clearing my thoughts, and then watched as David grabbed the wand. And as his fingers sunk into the handle, which to seemed to memorize his grip (making it his), a spider web of ice blue spun from his fingers. When Ollivander set the wand in the box again…it was streaked with ice blue. How…?

"Very good, very good," Ollivander muttered, wrapping up the wand. "That is clear enough…everyone…go ahead…pick up your wand," he said, and I picked up the one in front of me. Somehow…I knew it was mine. And as I picked it up, as I memorized my grip into its handle, the spider web of color reflecting off my key streaked across the black of the wand. I continued to stare at it as Ollivander handed David his box. He then stood in front of me. It was then I noticed we were all standing in a line…and I was second, after David. Basically, it went David, me, Maggie, Tom, Chris, Sarah, Nathan, Ren, Lucky, Richard, Daniel, and Ellie.

Ollivander began going down the line, in order.

"13 inches, a strand of Siren hair. 14 inches, a strand of a light goblins hair. 14 ½ inches, the pollen of a lightning born flower. 17 inches, the spirit of a wood nymph. 12 ¾ inches, the heartstring of a silver dragon. 16 inches, the thread of a dementors cloak. 13 ¾ inches, a shard of an obsidian crystal. 15 inches, fetal unicorn hair. 17 ½ inches, essence of a salamander spirit. 17 inches, a heartstring of a sea serpent. And finally, 12 ¾ inches, the scales of a dryad," Ollivander finally said, finishing off with Ellie.

That was too…confusing…but I'd caught it. A strand of Siren's hair…awesome. I looked down the counter as Ollivander wrapped up my wand…and everyone else's were streaked with color, too. And I realized something, trying to drone out the fighting between Nathan, David, and Red about who's wand was 'longest'. Like mine…like David's…all of theirs were streaked with the color of their key.

)(

Even after we'd paid for our wands and left Ollivanders, I still gazed upon the box (in my bag) which contained my wand. We were sorcerers and sorceress…is that why our wands were so different, so unique, so…peculiar?

"Ow…" I let out to myself as I hit into Chris's back. I guess I haven't been watching where I was going…but…he just kept walking. No scold?...weird…

"Ok, so we got the menagerie…" Daniel said, pointing to one shop, "and the owlery," he said, pointing to another shop.

"Who all is going to the menagerie?" He asked. Almost all of us raised our hands. "Ok, and that leaves everyone else going to the owlery," he finished, and at that we split into two groups. Maggie, Nathan, David, Sarah, Tom, Richard, Daniel, Ren, and me all headed into the menagerie. Which left Lucky, Ellie, and Chris to the owlery. I might head in there…I didn't know exactly what I wanted, yet.

)(

As we entered the menagerie, I saw Sarah quickly run over to a small cage. Oh…those…things. They were like…fuzzy…and…buzzed and stuff. I didn't know what they were called. The third book had never really mentioned it. Anyways, Red and Nathan had paired off and were talking quietly about…something. They seemed to be getting along and…looking for something. Wonder what that was…

And that was when I bumped into the cage. Well…more like fell into an open cage. But don't look at me that way! I mean, when you're shopping you expect everything to be in their place…not to be cautious about bumping into things and falling into open cages!!!

Ok, sorry, cooling down. I glanced nervously around me, and then stood. Ren had hurried over to the cage, holding a white cat with a black tail, black spots on its head. It was actually a kitten.

"Are you ok, Mickey?" She asked, setting the cat on a shelf where it waited patiently in a patch of sun. The thought made me smile a bit. This cat and Ren seemed to fit together.

"Yea, I'm fine…just a little surprised," I smiled nervously as I took one of her hands after I'd dusted myself off.

"Good…and stop being ditzy…that's my job," she laughed, sticking her tongue out at me, and I laughed as well as I began to climb over. Till…I heard the growl. I slipped from Ren's grip and landed on the hay-like floor again. On my butt…

"Ren…" I said uncertainly, looking up at her, and she was staring wide eyed at a creature at the other end of the cage. I big…black…creature. With big…glowing…eyes. I screamed, ramming into the side of the cage my back was facing. It was sturdy…this animal probably needed it.

I heard lots of running, but I didn't look away from the thing…I just kept eye contact…and the first thing to break it was David landing in front of me.

He quickly turned to me and picked me up, heaving me out of the cage where I was caught by Tom and Red. They set me down, and I looked in the cage. The creature had walked forward, and David was approaching it. All of a sudden, the creature lunged at him and he landed on the ground. MY breath caught in my throat and my hands squeezed the cage I was gripping. Then I realized…the creature…was licking David's face. IT was in the light now…a wolf…with a large scar that ran through his eye. I almost clasped. They were PLAYING!!!!!?!!!!!?

Ren and Maggie patted my shoulder.

"It's alright, honey," Sarah said, walking over and carrying a light blue colored fuzz-ball…thing. "Like all guys, he's just immature," she said, and we all nodded. Right she was, right she was.

I walked away, shaking my head, looking around. What did I WANT?!? It seemed everyone had found something. David was getting that…scary wolf, Nathan had a beautiful fox perched on his shoulder, Tom was leading around an orange dingo with great happiness on his face, Maggie had a raven pecking her on the head, Red also had a fox though it was more orange and rough then Nathan's, Daniel also had a wolf…but it was gray, and then Sarah had her fuzz-ball thing! I had nothing…but…Ren…

"ACK!" I let out as the girl on my mind popped up behind me. She giggled, and I turned to look at her with a look. I rolled my eyes after she laughed more. I'd never been too good with those…

"What happened to the kitten?" I asked her, having recovered from all the shock this store was giving me. I wouldn't be surprised if I DIED here…

"Oh…" Ren said, sounding a bit disappointed. She placed it with a smile and shook off the tone of her voice with her hand. "I decided I wasn't ready for a kitten…too much work…but I DID find something you might like…actually, Sarah's fuzz-thing found it…" Ren muttered, taking my hand and pulling me along. I could tell she was crushed about not getting the kitten. And then I thought of something…Hmmmm…

"Quack!" Let out a small bunch of ducklings in a clear circle holding by the window. I practically got stars in my eyes.

"DUCKIES!" I squealed, looking at all of them. Which one, which one, which one? The group of girls behind me laughed, and I laughed a bit along, as I picked up a small white-ish tinted duck that seemed to be the runt of the group.

"Ah, he's precious," Maggie said in her 'puppy' voice. No, I didn't mean to say baby. Maggie had a puppy voice, not a baby voice.

"Yes…and I dub him…Jack!" I laughed. "Jack Samuel Weber…" I smiled, cuddling the small ball of cream fur to my cheek. It let out a ruffled 'quack' and reminded me of Sarah's 'Jonathon' voice…

"This is Eddie…" Maggie smiled, now holding the raven on her hand. It was pecking constantly at her skin, but she didn't seem to mind at all.

"And this…is…er, well…" Sarah said, holding the fuzz-ball thing above her head. She shook it a bit and it made 'whooping' sounds. We all stared at it oddly. "Uh…I don't know yet…I'll…think about that later," she said, mentally reminding herself she had a GREAT way of cheering people up, now. After that, we all headed up to the counter and bought our new mates, though Ren went outside. As she did, I gathered the girls around me.

"Ok, we'll include Ellie and Lucky in later but…lets buy Ren a birthday present," I said, and they both nodded enthusiastically. I quickly explained the plan, and Sarah quickly grabbed the kitten. We paid for it, and the lady said she'd fill out the second part of our plan. We smiled, and walked out, seeing Ren chatting with Lucky and Ellie.

"…what the HELL is that, Sarah?" Lucky asked, looking at the small fuzz-ball which she had put a collar and leash on.

"No idea, but isn't it cool?" She asked, and everyone laughed.

"I…guess…" Ellie said, weirded out. Sarah shook her new pet, and it made another 'whooping' sound. We all cracked up, and then I 'eeped' as I was tackled to the ground. I opened one of my eyes to see David's new 'friend' on top of me. I whimpered, and then felt him lifted off.

"Look, Mick, ya got a new friend," David laughed, and I didn't respond. Maybe his friendliness was being a bit…too annoying. I looked at what resided in the cages Lucky and Ellie held.

"Woah…those are awesome…" I said, looking at them from all angles. Lucky held hers up proudly. It was a deep black…but also sparkly blue. It had silver-like eyes with dots of blue in them.

"I named her Sapphire…and it's _pretty_ clear why," she said sarcastically, and a few of us laughed. Ellie held hers up lazily. It was a brown color…black tipped wings and all.

"I called him Treks," she said simply, shrugging.

"But…don't you like Star Gate?" Maggie asked. Ellie just shrugged again.

"What was I supposed to name him? Gates?" She asked, and shook her head. Maggie shrugged with a mutter of an 'I dunno…'. We all laughed…for…no apparent reason. Tension breakage, maybe?

"So…let's go home then?" Daniel said, and everyone nodded. I kept close to my friends…and away from David's wolf.

)(


	3. Birthday Surprises, Kissing, Cake, andFl...

Ceilings…were…interesting. Have you ever noticed that if you connect some of the dots…they formed a picture? Weird…

Anyways, that's where I am right now. On my bed in the Room of Requirement, with Jack sitting on my stomach, asleep. Ducks really are cute when they're sleeping…everyone else, well…we all sort of split. I heard some things about animal training and starting on studies and such…meh. I guess I wasn't all too up for any of that…I prefer laying here lazily, and thinking. Gr, but thinking made me depressed…and I'd connected all the dots…now what?

I let out an eep as I was knocked off my bed by a tackle, and Jack rolled off with me. I caught him quickly, cuddling him and making sure he wasn't hurt. I looked up from where I now laid on the floor to the culprit…David's wolf. Should have known…

"Shadow! No!" Came David's voice…and I didn't move. I saw as the beast's face disappeared from my sight…and his was replaced with it. "I'm…sorry. He seems to really like you…and he doesn't jump on anyone else…" David said, looking ashamed. "Maybe…we have the same taste in girls…" he said with a small grin, and I blushed, quickly turning my head away. Ok…maybe I could get along with David's wolf…maybe…I let out a few coughs to break the silence that had brewed, and then I felt as he grabbed me gently and lifted me back onto the bed. Even when gentle…he was REALLY strong…

"Why…" I began as I'd straightened myself up, but shut my mouth quickly. He was looking at me, stroking the wolf's head which was on his lap. The wolf itself sat on the floor beside my bed. 'Think of something, you HAVE to think of SOMETHING,' I thought, and then opened my mouth again. "Why…did you name your wolf Shadow?" I asked, and he looked thoughtful for a moment…thinking over my question. Yes! He may be strong, smart, charming, and just…AIE! But…he could be dense. Just like me…

"Well…he looks like a shadow, doesn't he?" David asked with a laugh, and I smiled. Wow…he defiantly wasn't the brightest crayon in the box if it took him awhile to think of that. Oh well…he was smart to extent…

"Well, yea, but…couldn't you think of something more creative? Er…not that Shadow isn't creative or anything…" I mumbled. I hated sounding rude. He smiled, teasing Shadow with scratches behind his ears.

"I'm not too creative, I have to admit…but…I think Shadow fits him fine," David smiled, and I nodded. "That wasn't what you were gonna ask, was it?" David said, rubbing Shadow's head roughly.

"Er…what?" I asked, blood rushing to my face.

"You paused…you had to think about your question. You're smart…and by the first word, I could tell you had a question planned…you rushed out the last part…" he said. Jeez…maybe his brain did work faster then she thought. I didn't say anything, and he nodded, standing. "Well, if you ever feel like asking me…come find me. If it drives me crazy for too long…" he said, beginning to walk out with Shadow following. "I might have to force it out of you," he said, looking back with a wink, and then he left. I fell back on my bed.

* * *

"Sarah, pass me that streamer please."

"Maggie, we don't need that much helium!"

"Nathan, stop eating the snacks!"

"Mickey, don't lean that far, you're going to fall off the balcony!"

"You guys, what happened to the CDs…"

Yes, that was all of us. Well, except Ren and Lucky. See, Ren's birthday is today. Lucky was the distracter while we set up, and we were _almost_ finished.

"There," I said, walking down to the main floor. There was a balcony-loft-like thing where we kept the DJ turner and the lights and the bubble machine. I smiled. This would be awesome!

"LET'S SEE WHAT EVERYONE ELSE IS DOING!" We all suddenly heard from outside. We all looked around and dove into our hiding places that we'd picked out earlier. Maggie flipped off the lights, and the portrait swung open.

"Jeez, Luck, do you really need to ye-what happened to the lights?" Ren asked as she suddenly realized she was standing in pitch dark.

"Here, let me get that for you…" Lucky said, flipping the light switch, and everything turned on as everyone jumped out.

"Surprise!!!" Everyone called, including Lucky, and Ren let out a scream. Everyone stopped, staring at her, and then laughing. She laughed as well.

"THANK YOU EVERYONE!" She called as she ran around the room. She danced underneath the bubbles, she twirled in the streamers, and she tasted the food. She was just a fast blur in the whole thing.

"Leeeeeeeeeeeeeet's get it started, in heeeeeeeere," Ren sang along with the Black Eyed Peas song, and the party began.

* * *

"Cake nooooooow?" Sarah asked, sitting on one of the large couches on the upper part of the room.

"Not yet…" Lucky said, looking at her.

"Pleeeeeeeease?" She asked.

"No!" Lucky and Maggie chorused. Sarah pouted.

"Fine! But if I become a party pooper…I'm blaming it on you!" She said, and the other two girls rolled their eyes.

"Why don't you have some candy, then?" Ellie asked, plopping down next to Sarah.

"I already ate all of it…" she mumbled.

"ALL OF IT?!?" The three girls cried, their eyes almost popping out of their heads. Sarah shrunk, and then got up heading for the stairs.

"Hey…look at that…limbo…I'm gonna…see ya!" Sarah called, and she ran down the stairs and onto the dance floor, where Ren was currently trying to go under the limbo pole. It was set up on stands, so no one needed to lower it.

"Whoop!" Ren called, getting out from the other end and raising her fist in triumph.

"We just started playing, no need to celebrate just yet…birthday girl…" David smirked. He was next in line.

"Oh, oh, lets see you beat me, Frosty!" Ren called, and he laughed.

"Oh, now it's on," he said, and sent his upper body backwards and under the bar. He smirked at Ren on the other side, completing it successfully. She just glared, before she went to get in line behind Sarah who'd just joined. She looked off to the side…where I was standing.

"Come on Mickey, play!" She called, beckoning me over with frantic waves of her hand. I shook my head, wide eyed.

"No way! I'm wearing a skirt, Ren!" I called back, looking at the pleated skirt that ended at my mid thighs. Lucky had talked me into wearing it…

"So am I!" Sarah called, laughing.

"But yours doesn't hang off you, you stick!" I called back, and she stuck her tongue out, bending backwards as she followed Nathan under the limbo pole.

She stuck her tongue out of me as she went to the back of the line, passing the pole that magically lowered itself a few inches. Ren didn't go under.

"Come on, Mickey…pleeeeeeease. It's my birthday…we'll make sure NO ONE looks, I promise!" Ren called, and I looked at her, pondering the idea.

"And if they do, I'll cream them!" Maggie screamed from above, and I laughed.

"I…guess…" I said, and Ren and Sarah cheered in glee. Ren ran over, taking me by the hands and I let out a yelp, startled. She pulled me over, and then got out of the way. I looked at her, and she made a game-show-lady-hand-gesture at the bar, and I took a deep breath.

I leaned back and went under, making it. Yay! And so game one of Ren's birthday bash began!

* * *

A little while later it was simply just Ren, David, Red, Sarah, and me…ok, so basically, four people got out. The bar was really small now…and Sarah had just gone. My turn…

I leaned back and began to go over and…no surprise! I fell! Hurray…

I closed one of my eyes slightly, aka winced, and then slipped out from under the bar and stood.

"Looks like I lost…woo for fifth place," I cheered, and Sarah and Ren laughed. I walked away, dusting off my skirt, and leaned against the snack table, near the chips and dip. Woo! Chips and dip!

I began to eat as I watched Red get out, and then Sarah. It was down to Ren…and David.

"Go Ren! Kick his ass!" Sarah called, and I laughed.

"Yea…show him!" I called, and then made a very dull expression. That was…lame. Sarah looked at me, laughing.

"Nice one…" she laughed, and I glared at her…or tried.

"Oh shut up…" I said, and she just smiled, popping a carrot into her mouth…thinking it was a chip. She spit it into a napkin.

"Ah, ew…" she said, rubbing at her tongue with another napkin. "Who in gods mind put the carrots on the same plate as the chips?" She asked, continuing to rub her tongue. I just laughed, and ate some more chips, watching the 'competition'.

"Come on, David, beat the girl down!" Chris called.

"Yea, don't let her beat you!" Red called.

"We're all riding with you, man!" Nathan called, and then slinked next to Red. "Dude, five bucks says Ren wins…" he said, and Red gave him a look, as if asking 'didn't you just say we were with him all the way?'.

"…You're so on…" Red said, smirking, and Nathan nodded.

"Woot! Go Frosty!" He called, and Red just laughed.

"Ren! Ren, Ren, Ren! Ren, Ren, Ren…Ren's the girl, playing limbo, she's got her wit and ambition. And one day she just might become…limbo champion!" All the girls chorused.

"Go Ren!" The girls upstairs called.

"Shut up! You're ruining our concentration!" David called.

"No!" All the girls countered, including myself. Minutes passed, and they were on the final limbo level.

"I think it's gonna be a tie…" I said, looking at Sarah. She nodded.

"Possibly…they're both good…" she said, looking very O.o

Ren went under…and David went under. None of them fell, and the bar fell to the ground. Now Sarah and I looked VERY O.o

"How…?" We both said in unison, and I shook my head. "Weird…" she said, scratching her head, and I nodded.

"Hmmm…well, it seems like a tie…" he said, and she nodded.

"Very good game…" she said, and he nodded a 'yes'. "New game! Let's play spin the bottle!" Ren called suddenly, and everyone froze. The only thought in my mind was… 'Oh no…'

* * *

I groaned, sitting in my place in the circle next to Nathan and Daniel. Basically, the circle went so. Nathan, Lucky, Tom, Sarah, Red, Ellie, David, Maggie, Chris, Ren, Daniel, Me. We tried to do it as boy girl as possible, but it doesn't really work when you have an even amount of people.

I began to hyperventilate quietly. It could be worse…we could be playing suck and blow…or…or…seven minutes in heaven. I took in a loud, deep breath, and Nathan looked at me alarmed.

"Mickey, calm down," Ren said, looking at me wide eyed. Easy for her to say! She was the one who'd selected the game. I began to breathe through my nose, and I looked a lot less stressed…but a lot more retarded…I sighed. Oh well…Ren had smiled, accomplished, and then made an 'ahem' sound in the back of her throat.

"Alright, since I'm the birthday girl…I'll go first…and we'll go around clockwise…" She smiled, reaching for the empty, Crush© bottle in the middle of the circle. She spun it. It spun and spun and spun and…landed on Sarah. Ren snapped.

"Oh darn," she laughed, as Sarah crawled in on her knees. Ren kissed Sarah on the cheek, and then went back to her seat. "Ok Daniel, your turn," Ren smiled, very Megumi like. (You know, Megumi from Rurouni Kenshin?...anyone?...nevermind…)

Daniel grabbed the bottle, and spun it. Around and around it went…landing on…Ellie. Hmmm…well I'd sort of somehow seen that coming. How, you may ask?...I have NO idea, so don't ask.

Daniel and Ellie both crawled in on their knees, and kissed each other quickly on the lips. I looked at Ellie's face…and, I think for the first time in the whole time I'd known her, I saw her blushing. Now that was scaring. If she was blushing…I was going to be SUPER blushing! Like, REDZONE blushing!

I groaned as I took the bottle, and spun it. I closed my eyes, peeking them open just a bit when I heard the glass on the tile stop…Lucky…thank god! Yes!

I crawled in and kissed her on the cheek, letting out a sigh of relief. That was a close one. Now I just had to pay attention when the boys spun…just because I'd finished hadn't meant that everyone else had.

So next was Nathan, he got David. What was with the same sex things…anyways, they passed. Girls were much more affectionate then them, huh? Then Lucky went…she landed on Red. I'd saw her eyeing him since we'd gotten here…she went for those types of guys, ya know? They went in and a quick kiss on the lips happened. Well, not that quick…it lasted longer then Daniel's and Ellie's, I'll tell ya that. Then it was Tom, he got Ren. Quick kiss on the lips, shorter then Ellie's and Daniel's. Ok, no attraction THERE. Then Sarah, she got Ren as well, so they had another kiss on the cheek. Red spun, he landed on Maggie. He kissed her on the cheek. Hmmm, defiantly no attraction there! Ellie spun, got Maggie, another kiss on the cheek.

I began to hyperventilate again…it was David's turn. My palms were sweaty, and I quickly wiped them on my jean skirt, and watched as it spun. It spun, and spun, and spun, began to slow down, and then stopped…on me. I looked at him, and he began to crawl towards me. I moved slowly towards him, and then when we met, he paused, and then kissed me.

I was wide eyed at first…I mean, my last kiss had been my first kiss when I was 15, for heavens sake! I wasn't big on dating…anyways, after a few seconds, I closed my eyes and kissed him back. I kissed him back! Me! I mean…Jesus Christ! I kissed him back! It was…very…mmmmmm…

I heard a giggle. My thoughts ended…but the kiss didn't…

"Hey you guys, we can play seven minutes in heaven next if you want…" I heard Ren giggle, and the kiss ended then. My face must have been beat red.

"Finally! You guys have been kissing for the past three minutes! I'm surprised you didn't run out of air!" Lucky laughed, and I blushed…even more…

I shrunk back into my spot, stood up. I opened my mouth, closed it, and then ran away and into the hall. David sat back in his spot, and he looked slightly flushed as well but…he was smiling.

"Erm…we'll be right back…" Lucky said, standing. All the other girls did, too.

"Yea…uh…bathroom," Maggie offered, and then they all ran out of the room after me. The boys sat there, and then Nathan grabbed the bottle and began to spin it…and then a pillow hit him in the head.

"Don't even…" Red muttered, and Nathan laughed nervously as he sat up.

"So David…what was it like?" Nathan asked, looking at him with a smile.

"It was…I don't know how to explain it…without taking a long time…" he said, smiling a bit.

"Then start explaining…they won't be back for awhile…" Red laughed, and the other guys did as well.

* * *

Damnit…why could I never find the bathroom!

I glared, and then spotted the door…I knew it was the right door because I saw that tapestry I had hidden behind a few weeks back. I ran in and headed to a stall, running in and locking myself in. I sat down on the toilet seat, bringing my feet up and hiding my face. Oh my god…why did I do that? I kissed him back…kissed him back…for three minutes! I mean, yea, I liked him, but…

"Mickey?" I heard Sarah's voice call into the bathroom, and I held my breath. Don't find me, don't find me, don't find me…

I had a thing for doing this…when we had sleepovers, my friends would get in fights…about silly things and what not…and I'd always walk away and hide. In a bathroom or a closet or something. It took them awhile to find me usually…and they were mad at me, usually…I just had a thing for hiding from people when I was upset or embarrassed.

I heard five sets up footsteps begin to walk down the isles of toilet stalls, and saw shadows as they looked for feet. I made sure I was on the toilet seat as much as possible.

"Found her!" Sarah called, as her head appeared under the door. I shrieked, almost falling off the toilet and onto her head. She screamed as well and her head disappeared. I put a hand over my heart, taking a deep breath. Now THAT had been scary.

The door opened and I saw Lucky. She smiled at me.

"Come on, Mickey, it wasn't that bad…" Ren said, popping up besides Lucky.

"Easy for you to say! It's not like you just kissed this guy you really liked for three minutes in front of all of your friends!" I cried, hiding my face in my hands. Ren began to grin.

"So you REALLY like him?" She asked. Ah Damnit…

"No! No, I didn't say that!" I cried.

"Yes you did!" Lucky called.

"No I didn't!" I called back. I shrunk back as they all gave me a look. "Ok, so maybe I did, it's not like I meant it…" I muttered. Lucky laughed.

"If you hadn't meant it…why would you say it?" She asked, raising her eyebrows.

"Uh…I…uh…" I stuttered, looking away and blushing.

"Ok, we'll stop bothering you about this…" Lucky said, and I smiled. Yay…

"Yea…hey, how about we tell David about our little talk in the bathroom when we get back?" Ren asked, tilting her head to the side.

"NO!" I cried, and she smiled at me, triumphantly.

"Oh?" She asked, moving a little into the stall.

"Ok, ok, so I like him, alright? So what…it's not like…it's not like you don't like Nathan!" I called back. She shrugged.

"Yea? So? Lucky likes Red," she smiled.

"Hey! Why are you dragging me into this!" Lucky cried.

"I dunno, we're just bringing it all out…" Maggie said, nodding.

"Well…well…Ellie likes Daniel!" Lucky called. Ellie's eyes widened.

"I DO not!" She called.

"So who does that leave me with, Tom?" Sarah asked, looking at everyone.

"No!" Maggie called.

"No, you see, Tom is Maggie's…you get Chris…" Ren giggled.

"Yea, the cold hearted…" I began, and then mumbled off.

"What if I don't want Chris?" She asked.

"Too bad…unless you'd like to date Flaun, then I suggest you start to like Chris," Ren said.

"…Flaun?" Sarah asked, blinking.

"Yea, that's what I named your fuzz ball…thing…" Ren said, blinking.

"Why? He's my pet!" Sarah called, stomping her foot.

"Because it's your birthday present to me…having a nameless pet pisses me off…" Ren said, crossing her arms.

"He's still my pet," Sarah said.

"I like it…" I said.

"But…but…" Sarah said.

"So it's decided, Sarah's pet is now named Flaun!" Maggie declared. Everyone cheered. Sarah stood there.

"Oh…fine…his name is Flaun…" she mumbled. Everyone cheered again.

"Ok, so back to the party, then?" Ellie asked.

"Yea!" Lucky called.

"Just…no talking about this, alright?" I asked meekly, and everyone nodded.

"No one will know what was said in this bathroom!" Ren said, stomping her foot for affect. It echoed in the empty bathroom.

"Most defiantly," Lucky agreed. I went out of the stall, and then we left the bathroom, heading back to the party.

* * *

"Oh really, then what?" Red asked, leaning in like a little school girl.

"Well…" David began, and then the door opened. We all walked in, and there was a very odd…awkward…silence.

"New game!" Ren called, and I almost fell over. "Hey Mick, how about we play seven minutes of heaven?" She asked, making a gesture with her eyebrows. I blushed, letting out a little squeal and running away. Lucky quickly followed me. "Ok, maybe that wasn't the best suggestion…" she giggled, and then turned to the guys, plopping down in her old spot on the floor.

"Soooooo, what were you boys talking about while we were gone, hmmm?" She asked with a smirk.

"We weren't talking about anything…" they all said, looking to the side.

"Uh huh…" Maggie said, sitting down in her old spot.

"Liars!" Lucky called from upstairs.

"Music!" I called, and then drowned out our voices with "Barbie Girl" by Aqua, which had just started playing.

"…I didn't get kissed…" Maggie pouted.

"Me either…except for Ren!" Sarah said, pointing at Ren.

"Hey, it was fates call…but I could always hook you up with someone," she said, glancing around evilly.

"No! We're fine!" They both called in unison. She laughed evilly.

"Mwaha, I thought you'd see it my way…" she smiled, and they just looked at her O.o

"Alright, well since none of you want to play seven minutes in heaven…" Ren began.

"Hey, I never objected!" David called.

"Well…you don't count…unless you can count our two embarrassed friends upstairs into it…" Ren smiled, crossing her arms. He stood and saluted her.

"Will do, come on Red," he said, grabbing Red by the arm, and pulling him along. They skipped away merrily into the sunset…kidding, they pranced up the stairs…ok, so they walked. Have some imagination, people!

"AH!" Two screams came, and then Lucky and I ran down the stairs. I ran one way and Lucky ran the other. David and Red followed.

"You get her and I'll get Mickey!" David called, running one way.

"Get away! Get away!" I called, picking up pillows and throwing them back at David. He dodged them. Damnit!

"More ammo!" Lucky called to her imaginary army, flinging carrots and chips at Red as she was chased in a circle around the food table.

"Ow! My eye!" Red called, stopping. Lucky stopped.

"Oh no! I made him blind! Oh no!" She called, freaking out and running over.

"Ha!" He called, tackling her to the ground.

"AH!" She screamed, and Red smiled.

"So…up to playing seven minutes of heaven now?" He asked, raising one of his eyebrows.

Meanwhile…

"Ah! Ah! Ah! Get away!" I called, running up the stairs again. He followed. Damn me and running into corners.

"Mwahahaha, you have no where to run now!" David laughed. I looked at him very O.o as I backed into the furthest banister. Ok, bad experience with banisters…I took a step forward.

"Hey…look…a…a…there!" I called, and he looked. He LOOKED! I made an attempt to run past him, and he turned and caught me around the waist. Damn…a trap. I knew he wasn't that stupid…

Well, he wasn't that smart because he lost his balance and we fell…that was pleasant…at least I wasn't on the bottom…

"Erm…" I said, looking at him and blushing. "Let go…" I said, realizing he had a tight grip around my waist.

"Nope, not until you say you'll play," he smiled.

"No! I don't wanna play…" I said.

"Well then I have no choice but to torture you until you give in…" he smirked.

"…torture?" I asked, wide eyed. He smirked.

20 minutes later…

"Will you guys give it up, already? The idea is dead!" Ren called.

"No!" Both the boys called.

"I will break her!" David called.

"And I will break her!" Red called.

"No they won't!" We both called. We were still in the same position, for both of us. Finally, Ren and Sarah got tired of it and pried David and Red off of us.

"Jeez, you guys, seriously…" Sarah said as I hid behind her.

"Yea, looks like you guys seem to like two particular girls, huh?" Ren asked, smirking. I almost wanted to kick her.

"That's right…" David said, and he walked towards me and Sarah. "I need to tell you something…" he began, and then my eyes widened. "Sarah," he suddenly said, picking up her hand. "I'm in love with you," he cried, and threw a head to his forehead, dramatically.

Sarah made an annoyed face (IE: -.-) and pushed him away.

"I'm sorry, Romeo, but you're just not my type…" she said, raising her eyebrow at him. He laughed.

"No problem, no problem…hey, are we gonna have cake yet?" He asked, scratching the back of his neck. Actually, I don't think any of us had thought of that.

"Yes…cake. Cake!" Ren cheered, and everyone quickly ran over to the table. She proudly picked up her knife, and cleared her throat.

"Today is July 12…my birthday," she said, holding a hand to her heart. "Such an amazing day…such an amazing day. It really and truly is. I am now 17 and can join all my friends in celebrating this amazing day. I'd like to thank the people who couldn't make it…" she began, and let her hand fall. She began opening her mouth again, but Sarah cut her off.

"Cake now!" She cried, and Ren gave her a look.

"Fine! But now you guys will never here the end of my speech…" she said, and then noticed her knife was missing. And that Sarah had just handed her a piece of cake. The first piece of her cake. She made an annoyed face (refer to IE above), and then took a fork and walked over to one of the couches. And so…the party progressed…


	4. The Spiked Punch Incident

-The Spiked Punch Incident-

* * *

I stabbed at my cake. Once…twice…three times…

"Hey, settle down Mickey," Sarah said, taking my fork from me. I took her fork and began stabbing my cake again.

"…I'm gonna go…get you some punch…" she said, standing and walking away. I didn't watch her leave; I instead set my plate on the couch and stood.

This party wasn't getting much…better. I felt all awkward from earlier…and who had picked out this cake, anyways? ¾ of it was frosting! I hate frosting…

Sarah walked over, and handed me a glass of punch. She held another one in her hand.

"You okay, Mick?" She asked as we occupied the couch once more.

"I feel embarrassed…" I said.

"Not surprising," she laughed, and I mirrored it. I shouldn't feel embarrassed. It was a completely, natural thing. And…maybe David thought I liked him now…I took a sip of the punch…and squeezed my lips together. It was a bit…bitter, but I guess it was just a new taste after drinking soda all night. Sarah made the same face too, but we didn't say anything.

"Have you seen Ellie or Maggie?" I asked, taking another sip. After the first taste, it began to feel…normal.

"Yea…they're out on the balcony that appeared for 'stargazing'," Sarah nodded. I mirrored it. I blinked.

"Sarah…do you feel…funny?"

* * *

"What the hell is so funny?" Maggie asked, angrily, to the guys who had formed a huddle on the balcony. She and Ellie had been enjoying a talk till they all stumbled out there, drunk-like.

Red howled with laughter, apparently trying to answer her, but nothing.

"You guys are all stoned, aren't you?" She asked. They just kept laughing. "You're going to get dangerous and rape us, aren't you?" She asked, crossing her arms. They stopped and all looked at her, like lost children at the zoo. Tom even added the effect of tilting his head to the side.

"Frosty spiked the punch," Nathan said, simply with a shrug.

"Dude," Red said, hitting him in the stomach. Nathan wobbled away. Maggie and Ellie just noticed that all the guys had a cup of punch in their hand.

"Oh…no…" Ellie and Maggie chorused, and then ran inside.

There, Lucky, Ren, Sarah, and I were dancing and laughing crazily around the dance floor. There were empty cups of punch around the room.

"…they're drunk…" Ellie said, stating the obvious.

"Yea, sort of figured that," Maggie said.

"Want to go wander the castle and not get hurt?" Ellie asked.

"Uh…Spiffy, they're sort of…drunk, don't you think we should be helping them?" Maggie asked. Ellie shrugged.

"It's them or us, Maggie…and right now…they seem to be having a lot of fun…come, I want to go check out the astronomy tower…" Ellie said, beginning to cautiously walk along the side. Maggie sent an un-easy look towards us, but followed.

* * *

"I love you, Sarah," I droned, as we both stared at the ceiling while lying on the floor. Ren was nearby, shimmying with a lamp shade on her head and shouting, "Look at me, look at me!" Lucky wasn't too far off either, considering she was trying to climb up the banister. That's right, climb UP the banister.

Sarah and I were lying side by side on our backs, each with an arm around the others shoulder. I turned to look at her when I spoke before. She turned to look at me, now.

"Aw, I love you, too, Mickey," she smiled, and we turned on our sides and hugged. Ren shimmied by, now with a hula-hoop around her neck, a lamp shade still on her head.

"WOOOOO! WOOOOO! She's going for the world record!" Ren screamed, beginning to hop on one leg. Sarah and I looked at her for a moment, before we went back to looking at one another.

"How many did they have?" Nathan asked, turning to look at the rest of the guys. They were all huddled at one side of the room, simply watching us. Tom and Daniel had left to find where Ellie and Maggie had gone, since they had held back on the whole drinking thing. Well, in a way. No normal guy would pass down a tad of alcohol.

"Well, Ren had around…5 cups, Mickey and Sarah both had about 3, and…surprisingly…Lucky only had 1 ½ …it amazes me she's already climbing up the banister," Red nodded.

"This is so tempting…" Frosty muttered, rubbing his hands together as he watched Sarah and I. We had broken apart and were now playing steam roller.

"What is?" Nathan asked, falling back into their small huddle.

"Look…they have no idea what's going on around them…we…we could get them to do anything, I bet…" he said, looking at all of us. Ren shimmied over, walking again.

"WOOOO! WOOO!" She yelled in Nathan's face, and then spun away in circles. He blinked, shaking his head.

"Isn't that…bad, though?" Chris asked. He was sort of at the back of the group, remaining a bit…cast away.

"No, we won't do anything like that…just…have a little fun. Plus, they like…all totally love us," he said, matter-of-factly.

"…sometimes, Frost, you're a bit full of yourself," Nathan said, shaking his head. He looked around, and then some panic came over his face.

"No, Ren, it's a BAD idea to try and eat all the dip at ONCE!" He said, running towards the food table. The other guys laughed.

"Shall we?" He asked, looking at Red. Red nodded, but Chris remained in the corner. His eyes went to Sarah and I. We were facing each other again and had begun kissing each others cheeks and laughing hysterically. His eyes followed Sarah as she stood, and I stood after Sarah. We were both still laughing, and then I tagged her and began running away.

Her laughing stopped, and she began to chase me. As for me, I began laughing hysterically. Chris's eyes seemed to follow Sarah as she followed me, and then suddenly he became alert. He began running diagonal towards where Sarah was going, and then there was a clash as he slid to the floor. At the same time he slid, Sarah had tripped over a stack of empty punch cups that Ren was convinced looked like a castle.

Ren called 'HEY!', but no one seemed to notice or care much. However, Sarah, being as drunk as she was, had no idea what was going on till she was a few inches from the ground. She let out a small shriek, and then heard an 'oomph' escape her as she felt her head land on something soft…that certainly wasn't part of the dance floor. She opened her eyes, one at a time, to see her face muffled in a shirt. She looked up, and found that she was lying diagonally over Chris. He had slid to her rescue.

* * *

I paused to a stop near the top of the stairs, and Lucky flailed her fist at me from the bottom. I didn't notice much, though. Sarah had stopped chasing me, and I couldn't see her anywhere. I squinted my mouth into a pinch, and then sat on the stairs. Even drunk, I kept my legs together because I was wearing a skirt.

"Hello there." I jumped at the sound of a voice, even though I knew who it was. I suppose it was the style of entrance. David had chosen to lean down right next to me with his greeting, saying it right in my ear. It had surprised me at first…but…yea.

"Hi," I said with an overly large wave and a smile. He sat beside me, and I felt a large urge to just lean against him…sleep. I closed each of my eyes, one at a time, yawning a bit.

"Tired?" He asked, and I nodded. I took this time to lean against him, laying my head on his shoulder. He seemed a bit surprised, because his body had stiffened, but I didn't seem to mind. In moments, after nuzzling myself there, I fell asleep. I wasn't aware of what I was doing.

* * *

Lucky sighed. She was never going to reach the top. She plopped off, and began to wobble away. Red walked up behind her, and began to follow her. She stopped, and turned, but Red wasn't there. She blinked, and continued to walk. Red continued to follow. She looked back, and then became freaked out. She began to walk faster, and Red began to walk faster. She began to run, and he began to run. She screamed, and then felt herself lurch into a couch as Red tackled her about the middle. Both of them began cracking up, hysterically. Both of them were most likely equally drunk.

They both let out sighs of relief and breath at the same time, and then began laughing again. Though this would usually be an odd sign in the middle of a birthday party, everyone seemed extremely involved it what was happening with them…and not really with anyone else.

* * *

Morning dawned just as it would have any other day…sun poured in from the open doors that led to the balcony, and streamed across the garbage littered room.

The door to the room opened, and in walked four teenagers talking quite animatedly. But they all stopped dead in their tracks.

Ellie began laughing, looking at the site before her. Spread all across the floor was the rest of the group in poses that wouldn't usually be considered normal.

Frosty and I were still positioned at the top of the stairs, though I'm guessing as the night went on he fell asleep as well. He was now laying almost completely on the ground, with me practically all the way on top of him. My face was still nuzzled in his neck, my arms wrapped around his middle, his wrapped around mine.

Although Red and Lucky had both fallen asleep on the couch, they were not there this morning. They had rolled off, Red on the bottom, with Lucky hanging a bit off the side. His arms were sprawled crazily about his head, while Lucky had one arm and one leg on the couch, while the others were bent in openings along Red's anatomy.

Chris and Sarah, by far, looked the most normal. They were simply laying side by side, Sarah curled up into Chris's chest. His arms held all of her in a protective way, and both of them wore serene smiles. However, from sleeping on the floor, their clothes now held large stains of pink, white, and blue from cake frosting.

Ren and Nathan, lying on top of the refreshment table, had seemed to forget that food had been there. Ren, still wearing the lampshade (which now fell around her neck from being ripped), had managed to force Nathan's head inside of it so it fell around his neck, as well. They were both extremely close. Ren's clothes dripped with chip and vegetable dip, while Nathan smelled of the alcoholic punch. The bowl which the punch had occupied was now looped over the tops of their heads, making them look like smeared aliens.

The group of four, who had just entered, walked cautiously along the ground as to not step on any food. They were all still laughing, and almost wished they hadn't left the room the night before.

The silence was broken as Nathan shifted, sending a stack of fancy glasses to the floor. They shattered, and Ren and he both bolted up. The punch bowl flew to the ground, shattering as well. They both seemed very stoned at first waking, as if they were still sleeping. They then noticed where they were, what they smelt and looked like, and how close they were to each other.

"AH!" They screamed at one another, trying to jerk apart. The lampshade, which had seen much abuse already, didn't seem to want to break, however. They bounded back towards each other, their foreheads banging together in a rumble that didn't sound pleasant.

All the breaking and screaming had caused me to lift my own head. I blinked, rubbing my head, not remembering anything. But seeing Frosty right there wasn't comforting in the least. I didn't scream, but more so got really scared. Lifting myself away, I felt him hold onto me. He still had hold of my waist, and didn't seem to want to let me go. I sat there, my skin warming with a blush, as I tried to figure out how to break myself free.

Chris and Sarah were now awake, trying to move away from the refreshment table and themselves. The ground was littered with glass, and more kept adding as Nathan and Ren tried their best to wrestle themselves apart. Red and Lucky continued sleeping through this all.

"…what happened?" Sarah said, as she tucked her body on the bottom step of the stairs. Ren and Nathan were finally apart from one another, using one of the dinner knives left out to cut the lampshade. Chris now sat on the couch, avoiding the sleepers below. However, he had pushed Lucky's random body parts down to her level. I was still trapped, though I had the feeling Frosty was now awake. I kept trying to pull away…I didn't care if it woke him.

"Frosty spiked the punch last night, that's what," Maggie said, helping Tom, Ellie, and Daniel clean up the glass. Ren apologized to them.

"…he what?" I said, looking down at the male who slept beside me. He looked so innocent. Yea right…innocent as hell.

"Spiked the punch…they told us last night, but by the time we found out…it was too late. Looks like you guys had plenty of fun, though," Ellie winked up at me, and I blushed. I shook my fist at her, and then pried myself from Frosty's grip. Before, I hadn't minded much despite my efforts to get away. Now…well, now I just felt violated. I began down the stairs, my arms crossed, my head down in a huffy pout.

"Ass munch…" Sarah muttered, looking at the top of the stairs where he "slept".

"They were all in on it, I'm sure…the way they were huddled and laughing last night, that's how it seemed…" Maggie said, even glaring at Tom and Daniel. All of us looked a bit shocked, and then a bit pissed. Even though it's hard to predict someone when they're drunk, our personalities regularly should had predicted just how vulnerable we would be. The bastards…

I walked past Sarah to the door, and she followed. Ren followed, as well, and so did Maggie and Ellie. Ellie stopped by Red, prying Lucky loose. Even though Lucky hadn't known what happened, they didn't want to leave her there. Hoisting Lucky onto her back, piggy-back style, Ellie followed us out of the room. The door slammed with a giant, significant shake, letting the crystal chandelier on the ceiling shake and shatter.

David sat up, blinking, and looking around. He didn't have to ask what had happened…he'd heard everything. A small amount of guilt spread over his face, as he looked down at his hands. His empty hands…

* * *

We all sat around the lake, just us girls. Lucky was still asleep, and leaning against a tree which Maggie had climbed and was now reclining in. I hadn't asked where she and Ellie had slept the night before, but I guess it really wasn't our business.

Ellie was walking along the tide pool like area, making faces at whatever creatures she saw in the little pools of water. They only appeared in the mid morning, like it was now. Whatever was in the water did not like Ellie's faces, and kept splashing violently, soaking the bottom of her long jean skirt.

I sat on a large, flat rock, picking up pebbles and tossing them off into the shallows of the water. Ren was wading there, trying to rinse the punch smell and the dips from her clothes, skin, and hair. Sarah was beside her, wiping frosting from her cheeks and some spots on her clothes. They were talking, quietly, but I wasn't in the mood to really care.

I stopped throwing my rocks, and reclined back on the rock. The tree which Maggie occupied hung over it perfectly at this time of day, because the summer sun of mid July couldn't reach any part of the rock. I'm sure it would be able to, later, but it couldn't right now. Right now, and earlier today and last night, were the only things on my mind right now.

I picked at my pasty clothes, wrinkled and dirty feeling from sleeping in them. I wish I had even thought to change the room back to normal and grab some clothes, but I guess it didn't work that way, really.

Anger and an eerie calm seemed to be the only things that occupied my mind right now, as I stared up at the branches of the tree, spots of the sky beyond. Frosty was supposed to be a good guy…he wasn't supposed to take advantage of completely innocent girls, who were off guard and had no sense of reason whatsoever. I sighed, throwing a green colored pebble up and down in my hand. Tossing it up one of the times, it didn't come back down.

I didn't seem to notice then, either, so I grabbed another. It didn't come down either, and so I sat up to inspect…my head colliding with another's. Frosty's.

I wasn't in the mood to deal with him, so I abandoned my perfect rock and began to stalk my way back to the castle. The castle and it's grounds were big enough…I could find a place to get away.

"You can't stay mad at me forever," he said, following me. He was walking at the same pace as I, though I knew for a fact he could run and catch me easily. But he kept a few yards between us as I walked back up to the castle. I hadn't answered what he said, but he didn't seem to mind. I was walking too fast; I didn't want to waist my energy with talking.

"Wherever you go, I plan on following you until you let me apologize," he said. I paused, next to the statue in the middle of the courtyard, and then turned to look at him.

"Apologize?" I said, out of breath from going up the hill. My voice was heavy, and I was breathing incredibly now that I'd stopped. He nodded. "It's…going to be awhile before I let you apologize. You practically took advantage of me, how do I know…you didn't…do something to me?" I asked, leaning against the statue, catching my breath more.

"If I'd done something to you…then I'd know perfectly well that you'd need your time. I didn't do anything to you…not that I hadn't planned to…but when I sat next to you last night…" he said, rubbing the circumference of his wrist with his other hand, "…you fell asleep on me, nuzzled in my neck and everything. I couldn't do anything you."

My eyes were cast down. For some reason, I didn't want to believe him, even though I knew every word out of his mouth was true. I remember him popping up beside me after I'd climbed up the stairs…Lucky had shook her fist at me…I had gotten tired, and I did fall asleep beside him. I remember…

I still didn't want to believe him, though. I felt as if I needed to be angry with him, like what he had done deserved more a punishment. But it didn't, and I knew that.

"I'm sorry you got any intention that I may have raped you in your drunken sleep, but I didn't. I could never do anything like that to you. But I am sorry for having thoughts of taking a small advantage of you while you were drunk, and I'm also sorry for getting you drunk," he said. I still didn't look at him…

Before I knew it, he was before me, hand poised beneath my chin to make me look up at him. I felt like I was trapped inside a romance novel as the summer winds played with our hairs and entangled them in one another.

"…apology…accepted…" I said, my mouth hanging open even a bit after those words. He began to come closer…and I began to get afraid. Suddenly, I didn't want this to happen. I didn't want anything. Where my arms had secured themselves on his forearms, I subjected pressure…pushing him away. I shook my head, turned away, and ran into the corridors surrounding the yard. He didn't follow, but stood there. I didn't look back once, not to see as his eyes dropped to the ground, shadowing his pain.

* * *


	5. The Wind Barer

-The Wind Barer-

* * *

Days passed through July, nearing up to the end of it. Studies had been going rather fast, and we found that we'd made our way through basics. We were up to the third year level by the last day of July, when we were given a day break.

I was dreading this break, for the fact that all our studies had been what was keeping my mind and my body away from Frosty, and keeping Frosty away from me.

But on this day, as we all hauled ass down to the lake in our tankinis and bikinis, with our towels and beach balls and floats, my mind was anywhere from relaxed. The boys all said they would join us, but they were going to get us lunch from the kitchen. I needed to find a nice, isolated spot where Frosty couldn't get to me…and I knew just the one.

Although he would be able to talk to me, I could fit up here by myself. I set my black and red floral towel down on my special rock, setting some books down beside it and a matching towel for drying off. I slipped a giant black scrunchy into my hair, forming a pony-tail, which trailed down to the base of my neck; a few pieces dangled in front and curled about my ears.

"Did you want to be secluded?" Sarah said, bonding up in a white bikini, dotted with cute, cartoon strawberries. Her towel was plain white with a few blue stripes, and was slung about her arm, while one of her hands held a boom box and the other held a CD case.

"Meh…" I said, flipping my red, square sunglasses over my eyes. Sarah gave me a scooting motion, and I sighed, picking up my things so they weren't flat dab in the middle, and moving it off to the right. She set her towel down next to mine, and sat the boom box up in the tree with the CD case hanging from a branch. I arranged my books and other towel by our heads, making my other towel into a pillow. I know I'd regret that, though.

"Scared about Frosty, right?" She asked, sitting Indian style on her towel, facing me. I sighed with a shrug, applying water proof, SPF45 sunscreen. "Tell me," she said, looking me straight in the eye.

"…I guess it's that. I dunno…I've just been avoiding him for awhile now, so it's like…weird, I guess…" I mumbled, meekly. I didn't feel like talking about it. Everyone knew what had happened, for I had told them, and they knew I was avoiding him. I never sat next to him, and always made sure my friends were around me on every angle possible. I was always in a conversation at meals, and I would go to sleep before anyone else. I never gave him a chance…

"I don't see why you're avoiding him," Ren said, popping up at the end of our rock where our feet were. Seeing the body parts, she fled back into the water, and began chasing after Maggie who had hit her in the head with the giant, rainbow beach ball.

"Seriously, he's so in love with you," Lucky said, popping up where Ren had just been.

"He's not in love with me," I said, distastefully. I disliked when people used love so freely. If anything, he may like me, and I may like him back. But I don't see love anywhere in the relationship.

"Fine, fine, he…'likes you a lot'," Sarah said, quoting with the use of her fingers. I gave her a look, and sighed, burying my face in my hands.

"…why am I avoiding him?" I asked my hands, knowing full well they wouldn't answer me. They never did, before, when I'd asked them questions.

"The food…and fun…has arrived!" Frosty yelled, sliding down the hill on a towel.

"Frosty! Give me back my towel!" Tom called, running down the hill after him, a large cooler rolling behind him. Before he knew it, the cooler had gotten the best of him and sent him flying down the hill. There was a crash, and all of us turned to look. Tom lay sprawled, the cooler tipped over beside him, with sodas rolling all over the place. Sarah grinned at me, hopping off the rock and running over.

She picked up an orange soda, and turned to look at the rock where I was perched and where Lucky was beginning to scoot away from. I wish I had caught on as fast. Opening the soda, she aimed it at me, and I began to roll off the rock as it hit me. I fell into the shallow bank off the end of the rock, and glared down at the water. My body was now soaked with lake water, while my head stank of orange soda. Not to mention it was sticky. I was going to kill Sarah…

However, for some reason, I never got around to it. For the fact that I didn't dunk under water, I laid on my back and let my hair rinse in the water. I began to float along the lake, and forgot about Sarah's surprise attack.

"Hey…" said a voice from behind me, a bit too late. I collided with them, and felt my body collapse into the water. I gasped, keeping my head above the water, and feeling as my ears filled with water. I squinted my eyes, beginning to hit the side of my head to knock the water now lodged within my ear cavity. "That doesn't work," the voice informed me, and I looked up. I should have recognized the voice before.

Frosty stood there, so I was guessing the water wasn't very deep yet. His hair dangled down in his eyes, dripping with water, and the water streamed down his chest as well. I almost felt my mouth fall open, but stopped it. I began to swim around him.

"Please stop," he said, grabbing my arm. I let my body fall beneath me, letting my knees set in the sand. I had stopped. "Why are you avoiding me?" He asked, and I began to open my mouth. "But!" He called, interrupting my coming words, "don't you dare say you aren't avoiding me because I know you are." He crossed his arms for added effect.

"I…I don't know," I said, and broke my arm away from him. I stood up, turned around, and began back to my rock. I needed to think more before I confronted him.

* * *

"I think Mickey needs some therapy," Ellie said, slipping a grape to her mouth as she sat on the shore next to everyone else. They'd laid out all the snacks, and recovered the sodas, too.

"Why do you say that?" Ren said, wiping some frosting from a leftover piece of cake. Sarah and Chris eyed it, nauseously.

"Because she's avoiding a guy who's crazy about her, and she's crazy for him, too," Lucky said.

"Hear hear!" Called Red, taking a swig of root beer, and slipping his arm around her. Lucky rolled her eyes. He was such a guy.

"Maybe she's just confused," Maggie offered. They all looked at each other, seeing if this was (in anyway) a plausible answer. They shook their heads.

"Someone should talk to her," Sarah said. Everyone looked at her, and she stood, wiping the sand off of her. She knew what that look meant.

"May I ask for eavesdropping privileges?" Ren said, setting her head (frosting covered lips and all) in her palms.

"No, you may not…just what we need is for her to stop talking to us all together," she said, walking into the water.

I walked up, heading back for my rock. Sarah grabbed my wrist for a detour, and we began down the shoreline instead, towards where the rock pools had been those days before.

* * *

Frosty dragged himself up to the beach, sitting down beside Chris who gave him some sympathetic pats on the back.

"She doesn't hate you, so don't worry about that," Daniel piped up, and Frosty nodded. He wasn't even listening, but watching as the two girls walked down the shore.

"Things will get better. Mickey gets confused a lot," Lucky nodded.

"Her thoughts get jumbled very easily," Ren said.

"And so she mixes things up," Ellie piped in.

"For all we know, she may be mad at someone else and she may be thinking that you're them, so…yea," Maggie said. Everyone looked at her, for she'd made the ending sound very confusing.

"Maybe…" Frosty said, catching a can of coke as Nathan threw it his way. "Sandwich, too, please," he said, and felt a sub hit his cheek. He glared at Nathan, but took the sandwich, turning back to his view.

* * *

"So you feel like you should be mad at him?" Sarah asked, as we reached a pretty far spot. Once again, I picked up some green pebbles.

"Yea…even though he didn't do anything and I want to be close to him. It feels wrong, you know?" I said, throwing one of the pebbles into the water.

"Maybe you're predicting something…maybe you're looking too far into it," she said, picking up some pebbles of her own.

"Maybe…but if I am predicting something, wouldn't I just be putting myself in danger by getting close to him?" I said, rolling one of the stones in my hand.

"Perhaps, but you shouldn't worry about the future. Whatever you're seeing will happen, Mickey, so don't make the worst of it. It could be that someone is giving you false images…to make you think something bad is going to happen. To keep you away from him. Don't forget book five, now," Sarah said, as she threw all of her pebbles in the lake at once. I dropped mine in the sand, instead, and we began back.

"You're right…I'm reading into something that someone wants me to think. Which is bad…so, I'll have what I want. Screw these negative feelings," I cried, hoisting my fist in the air. Sarah lowered it.

"Don't go getting too riled up…you might hurt yourself," she laughed, and I smiled at her. We walked back to the shore.

* * *

Things with Frosty got better from that point on. As studies went on through August, I would save him a seat next to me, and we would be partners for some experiments. Sometimes. It was fun, being taught by Dumbledore. I didn't want to meet any of the teachers until I had to, especially Snape.

I found myself getting very attached to transfiguration, and saw that Frosty was falling in love with Defense Against the Dark Arts. He was good at it. Very good. Maggie found herself excelling there as well, while Ellie found her strong point in magic history. She was very disappointed. Ren was in love with divination, while Sarah was doing great with charms. Lucky, however, found that her strongest point was in potions.

"Duck!" Maggie called, and I thrust my wand at the scurrying mouse on the table. Duck it turned to be. I clapped my hands, glad to be so up there in this already. I tapped the duck a few times, and it swiveled into a silver goblet, and then filled it with water.

"This whole…magic thing is awesome," I said, spinning my wand in the water. It turned a vibrant red, and I took a sip. "Mmm, Shirley Temple," I smiled, drying my wand with a flick in the air.

"Yea, and it's a good thing we've finished. School starts in a week, you know," Ellie said, looking up from a rather large book she was reading with Tom.

"Yea, yea, we know," we all droned, and I tapped the goblet once again. It morphed back into a napkin, which I dabbed at my mouth.

"I can't wait to meet people," Frosty cried, as him and Maggie walked in a circle, their wands drawn.

"No fighting, please," Lucky and Daniel called, fervently, dipping some leaves into a liquid. It bubbled for a few minutes, before settling into a pale green color. They both gave each other excited nods.

"Oh, why?" whined Maggie, plopping next to me. Frosty plopped next to me on the other side.

"Because you're going to ruin someone's experiment," Sarah said, twirling Ren's cards in the air as she desperately tried to snap them back, glaring at Sarah all the while. Nathan, who sat next to Ren, was grooming Kitsune, a large Magical Beast book opened in front of him. Chris, seated across from me, was showing off how he could turn the needle from a pine into a snake. I turned an olive into a mongoose, which then ate his snake. I smiled at him, innocently. Red was off near Lucky, being a little annoying as he levitated random things around their work area. Chairs, napkins, silverware, plants…whatever it was, it was not welcomed.

"What are we to do for a whole week?" Ren asked, finally retrieving her cards and shuffling them back into a small, silver bag she had.

"Be anxious?" I offered.

"Excited?" Frosty smiled.

"Scared?" Lucky said, glancing around.

"Funny?" Sarah said. We all looked at her, and she shrugged.

"Okay, Sarah…" Ren said, in that way, and Sarah stood, yapping her hands together as she stalked up the isles between the house tables.

"I want to be sorted…" Maggie said, sort of dreamily, rolling her wand from hand to hand.

"Mmm…me too. I hope I'm in Gryffindor," I smiled.

"Duh, we all want to be in Gryffindor," Sarah said, sitting down next to Chris.

"Though it probably won't end up that way," Chris informed us.

"Yea…I don't belong there, anyways. Maybe I'll be in Slytherin," I winked, twisting my body like a human snake.

"No, you just ate my snake, remember," Chris said. Frosty and Sarah both made faces, laughing under their breath. Chris and I shared a moment, both rolling our eyes, staring at the centers of our affection.

"You guys are so perverted," we chorused, and then sent each other looks. We seemed to glare at one another, and then look away.

"…ew, you guys, that was sick," Maggie said, getting it. Sarah laughed out loud, standing up and laughing down the isle again.

"Where are you going?" Chris called after her.

"I dunno…going to explore. Find something exciting. Get kidnapped or something," she said, opening the doors.

"Don't even joke about that," we all called, and she made yapping hands again. We all sighed, returning to our studies.

* * *

Sarah did show up for dinner, which was good. We'd gotten kind of worried about her, but she was fine. Afterwards, we were all pretty tired and worn out. It had been our last day of learning, and a lot of energy had been used. We ushered one another back to bed, where almost all of us were asleep instantly. Almost all.

Even though I had used a lot of my energy that night, I found myself awake. My wand was gripped in my end, a small light gleaming off the end as I held it behind my ear. A book was sitting in my hand, a history one, since it was definitely my weak spot and I thought I could do to memorize more. Plus, maybe it would help me sleep. I stopped as I read over the word 'redcaps' over and over. Something was moving in the room. I didn't want to peak, but I closed the book and extinguished my wand. Tapping the book, it turned into a major league baseball bat, and I gripped it, lying still in my bed. The footsteps got closer, and I gripped the bat even more.

The footsteps stopped beside me…I could hear breathing. I could hear their muscles moving, practically, as they reached for the covers. I wanted to disappear within the mattress. I gripped the back, and as the blankets were peeled away for me I swung at my attacker.

"AH!" They called, though it was quiet. Quiet and familiar. I lit my wand, letting the bat sink back into a book, and stared at the man on the floor. Frosty. Why did this stuff always happen between us?

My hands flew to my mouth, and I crawled out of bed. I held him, and apologized quietly over and over again.

"Where does it hurt?" I asked, looking him over, my wand now glowing from behind my ear again. He didn't seem able to move, and I thought of where I could connect from my low spot in the bed. I began to lift up his shirt, and saw the growing purple bruise on his lower stomach. I'd missed ribs, thankfully, but could have damaged something. I put my hands over the bruise, putting a small amount of pressure on it. He stiffened; teeth gritted, and pushed my hands away with a jerk of his body. I brought my pillows down, propping his head up, and then I laid my head on the bruise, feeling terrible for doing this.

"I'm so sorry…" I said, rubbing my cheek against the bruise. I seemed to have forgotten the bruise was a part of his chest. "What were you doing, anyways?" I asked, looking up at him. His eyes were slightly open, always a good sign.

"I…saw your light…I…couldn't sleep either," he said, and I could tell talking was a bit painful for him. "I wanted to…ask you…if you wanted to…go for a…walk," he grunted out.

"A walk?" I asked, lifting my head a bit. He nodded, finding it easier then words. I felt worse, and I kissed around the border of his bruise. He shook with tingles, and I smiled a bit into his bruise. Despite the circumstances, knowing you can do that is always a good sign. I sighed a bit, and then looked at him. "What can I do for you?" I asked, and he looked at me. I almost felt stupid asking that question, especially to a guy like him.

"Just stay with me," he said, and I felt myself blush.

"For how long?" I asked, quietly.

"Till I fall asleep…" he nodded, and I nodded back.

"Well then..." I said, tapping his body with my wand. The light disappeared, and instead his body began to float. I set him on my bed, which I then tapped. It expanded, and I put the new pillows underneath his head and picked my own off the floor. Tucking him into the covers of the now queen bed, I laid beside him, under the covers as well. I was tired now, too tired to think of what could happen. To guilty to think of what everyone would say the next morning. I positioned myself so I could keep the bruise in sight, and kept one hand over it, focusing magic slowly on the spot. Healing wasn't anything we had learned, but maybe it would come naturally. That's what I was hoping.

I don't know when he went to sleep, or when I nodded off, but I knew we were next to each other, within each others auras, the whole night…

* * *

I seemed to dread that night for the rest of the week, now avoiding everyone else **with** Frosty. The taunting was nonstop, the tormenting. But we had explained, and I'd tried to show them the bruise…but it was gone. I mean, I knew they believed us deep within themselves, but I guess they wouldn't stop their testing, no matter what.

I rubbed my head in despair, as I sat on my rock by the lake during dusk on the day before school started. I was enjoying my clothes while I could still wear them, and had gone with my favorite pair of pants that were so old that little white threads stuck out of the cloth. I picked at some, flicking them off onto the ground. Frosty wasn't with me, for one time this week, which was sort of refreshing. It made me feel free. Free from his watch, and free from the taunting. I stood, throwing my hands out into the air, my black and red striped shirt clinging to my every whim. My eyes were closed, and I felt like I was flying, but suddenly, I did feel my feet lift from the ground. I screamed, as I was hurled backwards off the rock and towards the tree. Wind wasn't supposed to carry people like this! I braced myself in fetal position, waiting the hit with the tree. But it never came. Feeling myself touch the ground, I looked up, scared at what had happened. I was on the other side of the tree, now. I blinked…this was very weird. I was very weirded out.

"What the hell…?" I said, standing and dusting dried grass from the seat of my pants. The wind was blowing gently now, swirling my loose air around the base of my neck and down my back. I climbed back onto my rock, desperate to try this again, but this time I turned my back to the water. I threw my hands back into the same position, but nothing happened.

I dropped my hands to my side in fists, disappointed. Maybe it was a lucky chance. I walked to the edge of the rock, the wind tugging my hair in the other direction. As I reached the edge of the rock, near the base of the tree, I turned around. The wind seemed to beckon me, and I began walking back in that direction. I began running towards the edge of the rock, and then I jumped. Sure enough, I glided a bit along the water. I laughed, touching the water with my fingers, and then clapped my hands above my head. I fell into the water, simply three inches deep, with small waves rolling up. But the splash had gotten me significantly wet. I stood up, walking onto the shore, laughing. That was fun, very fun, but very confusing.

I stood on the shore, as the wind played with my close, squeezing the water from my clothes. It was drying me off, but I didn't seem to notice.

"So wind, we have a connection, huh?" I said, walking about. I now knew that I was dry, but I didn't question why. It was better then being wet. The wind twirled my hair about my neck, and I smiled. "My power, huh? Are you the only one?" I asked. It tugged playfully at my hair, pulling it back towards the castle. "I see…I suppose I'll figure out the others soon…but for right now, I'll keep this a secret," I said, putting a finger to my lips. If anyone had seen me, they would have thought of me as crazy. I knew they would. But the wind wasn't just a figment of nature anymore. It was a person, walking right beside me. Always.

* * *


End file.
